Each year, the Village of Royal Palm Beach invites residents to its Citizen Summit, an open forum in which village elected officials, senior staff and residents collaborate on key issues and opportunities.
About 60 residents turned out to this year’s Citizen Summit held at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center on Monday, April 14. The purpose was to provide a forum in which residents could share their ideas and help shape the future of the community.
“Get your idea on the record,” Village Manager Ray Liggins said. “Every idea is recorded. Staff and the council either include the idea in the next budget year or make it a policy agenda item for next year’s strategic planning process.”
Liggins noted that experience has shown that the concept works.
“This village is a conglomeration of the ideas of many,” he said. “The process of getting ideas works. Have fun.”
The participants seemed to take his advice, as the room buzzed during the process of residents sharing their opinions, ideas and vision for the village.
Mayor Jeff Hmara warmly welcomed the crowd by reminding them that this is the 14th year that Royal Palm Beach has held a Citizen Summit.
“This summit is an important tool in our strategic planning process,” he explained, introducing other Royal Palm Beach Village Council members in attendance, as well as senior village staff and department heads before introducing and turning the meeting over to professional facilitator Lyle Sumek.
Sumek applauded residents for turning out in numbers and advised them of the basic rules of brainstorming, centering on common courtesy and mutual respect. Residents were asked to dive in, brainstorm and discuss 12 questions. Each table had a village department head as the official recorder, and the elected officials took the time to visit each table.
It took about two hours for attendees to discuss and record each idea in response to questions ranging from, “What does ‘hometown community’ mean to you?” to harder questions like, “Do you support the mayor and village council increasing ad valorem property taxes?”
Typical of attendees were Madison Green neighbors Mike Louramore and Diane Schult. Louramore, retired after 40 years working for Publix, made a strong case at his table for the village helping local schools achieve A status.
“When we were searching for homes in the western communities, our first priority was buying where our kids could attend an A-rated school,” he said. “Good schools raise property values.”
Louramore also made the case for better habitats for wildlife, just as his birdfeeder app alerted him that a northern cardinal was snacking in his backyard.
Meanwhile, his neighbor Schult pointed out that she is a relatively new resident, not grandfathered in to lower property taxes.
“I probably pay thousands a year more taxes than Mike, but I like the level of service the village provides and would probably be willing to pay a minor tax increase to the village,” she said.
Not all attendees were village residents. Barbara Stafirn of Loxahatchee attended because she is about to move from her farm to a condo in Royal Palm Beach.
“I love this village because there is so much to do and so many services,” she said. “I already take advantage of the Young at Heart Club and can’t wait to become the village’s newest resident.”
By all accounts, the summit was a success. La Mancha resident Philip Karas loved the experience. “I got to meet some of my neighbors and everyone gave great input. This was a very positive experience for me,” he said.
Councilwoman Jan Rodusky hopes the village does even more to gather community input.
“I like the process, but I wish we could do more to get ideas from the quieter citizens,” she said. “Maybe next year we can make use of technology like they use in focus groups.”
Gary and Shila Garrett decided to bring their three children, Levi, Shane and Sailah.
“Tonight was tremendous,” Shila Garrett said. “I really enjoyed the process of brainstorming and creative collaboration with my neighbors. They did an awesome job.”
At the end of the meeting, the facilitator thanked parents who brought their children, and the children were given an ovation because they were so well behaved.
Fifth-grader Levi Garrett was impressed. “It was very interesting to listen to the wealth of ideas. I really enjoyed this process and would like to attend next year,” he said.
Village staff will carefully review each Citizen Summit idea, paying special attention to the ideas voted as priorities at each table. The results will be tabulated and posted on the village web site at www.royalpalmbeachfl.gov.
